Office of Health Disparities Reduction Website

Monday, August 14, 2017

SAMHSA released the fourth edition of its Behavioral Health Barometer state reports. These reports include data about key issues such as the prevalence of substance use, serious thoughts of suicide, serious mental illness, and treatment, for each state and the District of Columbia. The findings are presented by age, gender, racial and ethnic categories, poverty status, and health insurance status. The reports can assist policymakers and public health providers in targeting programs and interventions to reduce the impact of mental and substance use disorders on America's communities.

Why: Since December 2015, PCN has not accepted new applications for adults without dependent children. Beginning today, all uninsured Utah adults may apply online, by mail, or in person to receive primary health care.

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Who: Adults who meet the following requirements may apply:

Age 19 through 64

U.S. citizens or legal residents

Not covered by other health insurance

Meet income guidelines (e.g., a family of 4 with a maximum income of $23,376 per year)

Not qualified for Medicaid

Have no access to Medicare or Veterans benefits

Have no access to student health insurance (as full-time students)

When: PCN will accept applications for all adults from August 14-28, 2017. PCN enrollment for parents/caretaker relatives will stay open and accept applications at any time.

Salt Lake County Health Department (SLCoHD) is seeking proposals for Abstinence and Personal Responsibility Education Programs (PREP). SLCoHD is seeking to sub-contract with community agencies providing services to adolescents and families residing within Salt Lake County. Agencies are eligible to apply for abstinence education, personal responsibility education or both. All agencies providing services to adolescents and families are eligible and encouraged to apply. Click here for more information.

Please join the ACE (Arts Culture and Events) Fund team to hear about exciting changes in our program this year and how to apply! Events of all types and sizes are invited to apply for Salt Lake City funding to help support our community. Attendance is not required to apply but highly encouraged.

Funding OpportunitiesStudents to Service (S2S) Loan Repayment Program – Opening Soon. This month, the National Health Service Corp (NHSC) will begin accepting applications for their 2018 Students to Service Loan Repayment Program, providing up to $120,000 in tax-free funds to pay for tuition and other fees for students in their final year of medical or dental school. In exchange for loan repayment students agree to work at NHSC-approved sites, in many cases rural areas, upon completion of their primary care residency training. The two-month window for applications will begin in mid-August; interested students can sign up now to be notified when that happens.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Secretary’s Advisory Committee for 2030 New!

Be a part of the Healthy People 2030 development process! Register to attend the fifth meeting of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030 (Committee). The meeting will be held in Washington, DC and is open to the public. Registration is required.

At this meeting, the Committee will:

Discuss the development of the Nation’s health promotion and disease prevention objectives

Discuss proposed recommendations and updates from each of the Committee’s subcommittees

Hear oral testimony from the public on the proposed Healthy People 2030 framework, including the vision, mission, overarching goals, foundational principles, and plan of action

If you would like to present oral comment to the Committee, you must register and submit a written copy of your oral comment prior to the meeting. Please also review the guidelines for public comment.

Space is limited and registration will close once we reach maximum capacity.

Monday, August 7, 2017

Two-Part Webinar Series for Faith-Based and Community Leaders on the Opioid Crisis

Part One: Understanding the Opioid Crisis: What's at the Heart of the Matter?

Wednesday, August 9, 2017 | Noon–1 p.m. Eastern Time

Join the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Partnership Center and experts from SAMHSA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a two-part webinar series specifically geared towards faith-based and community leaders on the opioid crisis. During part one of this series, national leaders from SAMHSA and the CDC will share data and the science about opioid addiction, and they will dispel some common misconceptions about treatment and recovery. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and will receive information about additional resources.

Part Two: There Is Hope: Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention

Wednesday, August 16, 2017 | Noon–1 p.m. Eastern Time

Connecting people to treatment and recovery support has been shown to be effective and can save lives. During part two of this series, experts from SAMHSA and the CDC will review early intervention and treatment options, and they will discuss the essential role that the community plays in recovery support and prevention. They will also discuss strategies for getting ahead of the problem, the impact of adverse childhood experiences on the development of a substance use disorder, and how upstream preventative action can restore hope and lead to a brighter and healthier future for generations to come. The webinar will close with a Q&A session and a review of resources.

The Healthy Living through Environment, Policy and Improved Clinical Care Program (EPICC) at the Department of Health has a recruitment open for the following position:

Domain Specialist III (Health Program Specialist III)
$20.91 - $33.17

This is a full-time, career service position with benefits.
Requisition # 12783
Closes: 08/14/2017 at 11:59 pm MST

In order to be considered for an interview for this position, you will need to apply on-line at https://statejobs.utah.gov. If you have not done so already, you will need to create a job seeker account.

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Do you have a background in public health? The Healthy Living through Policy, Environment and Improved Clinical Care Program (EPICC) needs you as a Domain Specialist III. You will work to improve/reduce heart disease and stroke incidence in Utah by focusing on risk factors (primarily hypertension) and working with partners in the health care, worksite and community setting to implement interventions. You will be apart of a collaborative team that works together on multiple projects. This position requires travel throughout the state of Utah.

If you are uninsured and age 19-64, you may qualify for PCN. Click here for additional eligibility requirements.

PCN is currently open for enrollment and accepting applications for parents/caretaker relatives. To be eligible, you must have a dependent child under age 19 living at home, in addition to the other eligibility requirements.

You can apply online or call 1-888-222-2542 for an application to be mailed to you.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Overview
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environment in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that may impact their health. SDOH are often a strong predictor for health inequities—the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between communities. They include factors like socioeconomic status, education, the physical environment, employment, and social support networks, as well as access to health care.

The Healthy People 2020 SDOH framework highlights 5 key domains: economic stability, education, health and health care, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. The selection of social determinants as a Leading Health Indicator recognizes the critical role of home, school, workplace, neighborhood, and community in improving health. The Social Determinants LHI encourages improvements in education and high school graduation rates. Children born to parents who have not completed high school are more likely to live in an environment with barriers to health. Additionally, low education levels have been linked with poor health, more stress, and lower self-confidence.

Increasing levels of education, including academic success and achievement, are associated with longer life expectancy, improved health and quality of life, and adoption of health-promoting behaviors like getting regular physical activity, not smoking, and going for routine checkups and recommended screenings.

Chartbook on Health Conditions and Behaviors of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Persons in the United States, 2014

Objectives
The body of nationally representative health statistics for the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) population is limited, because even the largest health surveys generally do not have an adequate NHPI sample to calculate reliable NHPI statistics. Using data from the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey (NHPI NHIS) from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), this report fills this gap by presenting statistics on health conditions and behaviors for (a) the total NHPI population and the multiple- and single race NHPI populations, in comparison with other federal race groups and the total U.S. population; (b) single-race NHPI persons compared with multiple-race NHPI persons; and (c) detailed NHPI race groups in comparison with each other and the total U.S. population.

Methods
The NHPI statistics were calculated using 2014 NHPI NHIS data, while the other race group statistics were calculated using 2014 data from NCHS’ annual National Health Interview Survey.

Results
Compared with Asian adults, NHPI adults had higher rates of a range of health conditions, including lower back pain, serious psychological distress, asthma, and cancer. The prevalence of some health conditions, including cancer, ulcers, and diabetes, did not differ significantly between NHPI and black adults. Samoan adults were more likely than Native Hawaiian and Guamanian or Chamorro adults to have lower back pain and any physical difficulty, and they were less likely to have a healthy body weight. Native Hawaiian adults were more likely than Pacific Islander adults to have asthma. Single-race NHPI adults had higher rates of diabetes and were more likely to report at least 1 heavy drinking day in the past year, but they were less likely to have asthma, compared with multiple-race NHPI adults.

This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) kicked off the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Oversampling Study (BRFSS), a new initiative from the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the CDC. This phone survey aims to increase understanding of health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, access to care and use of preventive services in American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) populations.The states participating in the oversampling study are: Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Each state asks questions based on demographic characteristics (e.g., gender and age) and current health behaviors, such as tobacco and seat belt use. It takes less than 30 minutes to answer the phone survey and all information collected is confidential.

OMH wants to promote awareness of and participation in this initiative and asks your help to inform Native communities about this project by sharing this announcement with tribes, Native organizations, and American Indians and Alaska Natives living in these states. OMH has developed a series of resources to help promote this project and to encourage American Indians and Alaska Natives to respond to the survey if they get a call from their State Health Department.

Be sure to visit theOMH website to obtain outreach resources such as info cards, downloadable posters, and a newsletter drop-in article and share with your networks and through your communications channels. For more information, pleaseclick here.

RWJF: Studies show that home visiting programs yield up to $5.70 return for every $1 invested. The2017 Home Visiting Yearbookcompiles key data on early childhood home visiting and fact sheets for every state, showing how many and what types of families benefit.

Stressful life experience and living in a disadvantaged neighborhood may explain part of the outsized risk of dementia within the African American community, according to several studies reported at AAIC. A single major stressful event in early life, for instance, may have the same negative impact as four years of cognitive aging. This same study found that African Americans, on average, are over 60 percent more likely to experience such events than white Americans over their lifetimes.

An additional study found that certain socioeconomic neighborhood conditions – like level of poverty, substandard housing, low education rates, and underemployment – were correlated with poor cognitive performance. Meanwhile, a third study found that racial/ethnic disparities persist even into the oldest-old – individuals aged 90 and older; African Americans in this age group have a 28 percent higher risk of developing dementia than their white peers even after adjusting for education, sex, and cardiovascular co-morbidities.

ROAD MAP ACTION ITEM E-01
Identify and promote culturally-appropriate strategies designed to increase public awareness about dementia, reduce conflicting messages, decrease stigma, and promote early diagnosis.
Studies like these are further evidence of the unique burden of dementia faced by African Americans and populations with disadvantaged life circumstances. They also offer new insight into explaining why some racial and ethnic minorities are at a disproportionately higher risk of developing dementia beyond strictly physiological risk factors – such as a higher prevalence of certain cardiovascular conditions. Public health practitioners can implement large population-based interventions with special attention to lifespan, neighborhood conditions, and cultural adaptations to begin addressing these disparities.

Communities nationwide are already tackling this issue. Learn more about cognitive issues among African Americans through our infographic as well as national and localized efforts to turn the tide against Alzheimer’s in the African American community through a joint webinar co-hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association and The Balm in Gilead.